[Acct2000]

They showed a number of their short films and movies on Turner Classic on Saturday.

It was a real treat for me. I had forgotten the level of coordination (they were actually passable dancers and did a couple song and dance routines over the course of the night.)

In one movie, "Sons of the Desert" there was some stuff that reminded me a lot of the Honeymooners and Oliver Hardy actually had a pretty good singing voice.

Another one, "The Music Box" was a hilarious short film about them moving a piano.

I loved their short films when they were on TV in the early 60s when I was a kid. Now that I am an adult, I can appreciate the staging and choreography that went into a lot of their comedy.

I was up visiting my parents at their summer home on Houghton Lake and even though it rained quite a bit Saturday, I was quite entertained.

 

[burnedandfrozen]

I couldn't agree more. L&H were such a great team with their spot on timing and chemistry. It has always amazed me why so little of their work has made it to DVD and why The Three Stooges and Abbott and Costello seem to be more popular. L&H were just a class act through and through.

 

[Quay]

Ah! I caught the last half of TCM's showcase by happy accident, courtesy of insomnia. I needed the laughs and the warm memories. I don't think I'd seen any of their films since about 1970 and I had certainly forgotten how exceptionally well-controlled and tight their productions were despite the occassional funky edit. Not to mention how almost unbearably funny!

As a kid, The Music Box was probably one of my favorite films, mainly due to that incredible set of stairs. I just could not imagine having stairs like that in front of my house. They seemed wonderous and impossibly magical to me. Five years ago on a visit to Los Angeles a friend of mine took me to the very stairs where they filmed the movie, over in the Silver Lake area. I ran up and down them like a completely happy idiot, wishing I had a piano to move or at least a really big box to play with.

I certainly agree that the staging and coreography that went into their films is amazing and much more appreciated now that I'm an adult. (Well, at least I'm older anyway.)

I'm glad you got to see the movies again and I hope many others did as well. TCM really is one of my favorite channels.

Cordially,
Adrian Quay

 

[Acct2000]

I love TCM, although I'm not sure that I would want to try to move a piano up those stairs!!

I own a piano, but after a really stressful time moving it myself once, I always pay professionals to move it now!!!

I also don't understand why the Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello are shown more. Maybe it has something to do with copyright legalities.

It was a great afternoon and early evening interrupted only by Mom's weekly dose of Lawrence Welk.

Quay, did they show The Music Box later at night, too?

 

[Howard]

I'm trying to remember a commercial on television with Laurel And Hardy lookalikes but I can't remember which one it was.

 

[burnedandfrozen]

The stairs from "The Music Box" are actually located in Silver Lake, a small section near Hollywood. A friend of mine from the UK asked me if I would mind snapping a picture and emailing it to him. I did and it was nice to see a small plaque dedicated to L&H on the first step.

 

[Quay]

I love TCM, although I'm not sure that I would want to try to move a piano up those stairs!!

I own a piano, but after a really stressful time moving it myself once, I always pay professionals to move it now!!!

Heh! Well in my defense I can only say that as a kid I think my real desire was to get the piano near the top and then ride it all the way down. I don't know what it is with kids and stairs or banisters but they just seem to be made for going down in fast and fun ways. I do remember the first time as a kid I tried to nudge a piano around a bit. I remember thinking that it was very heavy and wondering about L&H's stairs again!

I also don't understand why the Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello are shown more. Maybe it has something to do with copyright legalities.

I have an acquaintance in LA in the synchronization licensing business and I will ask him if he knows. (LA and Hollywood really are small towns in many ways, especially when it comes to the movie business. I'm sure he'll know or know someone who knows the status of the various movie libraries.)

Quay, did they show The Music Box later at night, too?

We get our TCM via satellite so when I stumbled upon it all I was able to Tivo/record it. Out on the west coast, some channels are delayed for the west coast while others are not. TCM is not so I don't have to stay up quite so late than my mother back east if something good is on. :icon_smile:

--A. Quay

 

[Acct2000]

I understand the riding thing. I grew up on the steepest hill in my home town in Michigan.

We were always riding bikes and especially wagons down the street (even though there was a busier street intersecting our street at the bottom of the hill. In the 60s you could do that. Now, every parent or authority within three miles would be removing the wheels from our wagons.

I wonder if Laurel and Hardy ever had a wagon - - -

 

[fenway]

I agree. Laurel and Hardy aren't on enough for me.

Young people today won't watch anything that isn't in color. It's sad, really, on what they're missing out on.

I believe that what makes Laurel and Hardy successful is, that no matter what happened to them or what situation they were in, the genuine affection that they had for each other always showed through.

 

[Howard]

Did Laurel And Hardy ever have a cartoon like The Three Stooges had?

 

[medwards]

Yes, there was a Laurel & Hardy cartoon show.

 

[Quay]

...I also don't understand why the Three Stooges or Abbott and Costello are shown more. Maybe it has something to do with copyright legalities....

I have an answer courtesy of the acquaintance I previously mentioned. Years ago what is generally known as the Hal Roach library, containing all the Laurel and Hardy films, was owned by Messrs. Robert Halmi Jr., and Robert Halmi Sr., under the corporate moniker RHI Entertainment. RHI was purchased by Hallmark Entertainment, the same folks that bring us all the greeting cards. In the late 90's and up until about 2004 they did a decent job of putting the L&H movies into broadcasts. However, as Hallmark tried to become many things to many people they started to lose interest in the back catalog. The Halmis repurchased their company from Hallmark in 2006 and are focusing their energies on new movies i.e., the ones that will make more money. As of this year RHI has been licensing some of its back catalog but they're not focusing on L&H much at all, which is a shame.

Perhaps in a few years they'll take more interest in the back catalog but right now it's all about new movies, premiers and bigger bucks.

Cordially,
A. Quay

 

[Howard]

Yes, there was a Laurel & Hardy cartoon show.

When was that on television, Med?

 

[medwards]

1966-67

 

[burnedandfrozen]

Thanks for checking into this Quay. I hope that someone has at least done some kind of digital transfer of the L&H archives. The longer these films sit around, the harder it will be to preserve and salvage them if they start to deteriorate given their age.

 

[Quay]

Thanks for checking into this Quay. I hope that someone has at least done some kind of digital transfer of the L&H archives. The longer these films sit around, the harder it will be to preserve and salvage them if they start to deteriorate given their age.

You are welcome! And since you asked, I can add some more that I did not include in my original post. When the world was smaller, Hal Roach divided up the rights to show his films roughly between the western and eastern hemispheres. Apparently the western rights holder, RHI Entertainment, has not done much except continue to preserve direct transfer copies to digital media. However, the folks that own the rights to the eastern hemisphere, a German company called the Kirsch Group, has been spending not a little money re-mastering and restoring the old films and making digital copies in the process. So even if the western hemisphere folks fall short the folks in Germany will have made a great contribution to the preservation and longevity of the Laurel & Hardy films.

I was very pleased to hear that at least somewhere there are restored copies of all their films or will be soon.

Cordially,
Adrian Quay

 

[Howard]

I also remember when The Little Rascals had their own cartoon show,I believe it was back in the 70's and 80's.

 

[16412]

I'm always amazed when somebody says something negative about them. They were so good.

I wish there was way more to watch of them.

 

[Acct2000]

On a note that fits this forum, when Hardy was thinner and playing characters who would dress well, he was in suits that I thought looked pretty nice on him and fit well.

 

[Howard]

And when Laurel always did something wrong,he'd always whimper and scratch his head.